6th District GOP candidate calls for campaign spending limit

A 28-year-old Marine veteran who announced this week he is running in Maryland's 6th Congressional District is calling on the well-financed Democratic incumbent in that district to limit campaign spending to $500,000.

David E. Vogt III of Brunswick is seeking to reclaim for Republicans the district Democratic Rep. John Delaney won last year by beating longtime GOP incumbent Roscoe G. Bartlett. Vogt, now a full-time graduate student, has not previously run for political office.

Delaney spent $4.1 million in his campaign last year -- roughly half of it his own money. The campaign will be uphill fight for any Republican, not only because Delaney (or any incumbent, for that matter) is unlikely to agree to curb spending but also because the new district boundaries will make the seat less competitive in future elections.

Delaney beat Bartlett 59 percent to 38 percent.

Vogt served in the Marines for eight years on active duty, from 2004 until 2012, including a tour in Afghanistan, He will face Daniel Bongino in the Republican primary election, a former Secret Service agent who won the GOP nominate for U.S. Senate last year but lost in the general election to incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

"John ran as a moderate representing a district that has a large moderate conservative base," Vogt -- whose name is pronounced "vote" -- said in an interview. "He talks as a moderate but he votes straight party line…we, as a country, need to be more fiscally responsible."

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan pledged bipartisanship and offered a conciliatory tone during his snowy inauguration Wednesday, promising "to create an environment of trust and cooperation, where the best ideas rise to the top based on upon their merit."

Advocates for programs spending state dollars on stem cell research or investment in technology companies were nervous about what Gov. Larry Hogan's budget would hold for them, given warnings of "strong medicine" to cure fiscal woes.

Calling it a first step toward fully restoring the death penalty in Maryland, Del. Pat McDonough said he plans to introduce a bill that would mandate capital punishment for anyone convicted of killing a police or correctional officer, a firefighter or witness during the performance of their duty.

Marilyn J. Mosby was formally sworn in as Baltimore's top prosecutor Thursday night, and pledged to work for justice for crime victims, the innocent, and minorities who are affected disproportionately by the legal system.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has rarely exercised his power to grant clemency to convicted criminals over his two terms, even as many gubernatorial counterparts have been more lenient amid a changing attitude toward these acts of mercy.